How to avoid bash/shell skipping quotation in variable value?

Question

I have set a variable like this below-

domain= ("*.abc" "*.xyz" "*.123")

I want set the value of this variable in a json file like below-

"Items": [
            "*.abc",
            "*.xyz",
            "*.123",]

But, the problem is bash script is skipping quotation "" and taking only inside the quotation. Other than this, bash is also trying to take the value as command. I just want to set the value in Items array including commas, that's it.

I am using jq --arg e1 ${domain[@]} to set the domain variable to e1 environment variable.

And getting this below error -

jq: error: syntax error, unexpected '*', expecting $end (Windows cmd shell quoting issues?) at <top-level>, line 1: *.xyz.com

If you want to have a quote as part of the string, you have to actually write one into the string, for instance domain= ('"*.abc"' '"*.xyz"' '"*.123"'). — user1934428
– user1934428, Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 9:20
Ah, of course. I was stupidly copying from the original program. Of course it must be domain=('"*.abc"' '"*.xyz"' '"*.123"'). I assume the space was not present in the original code of the OP as well, otherwise execution would not even have reached the jq statement. — user1934428
– user1934428, Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 10:07
Bash or "shell"? Please read the descriptions of all the tags you applied! — Ulrich Eckhardt
– Ulrich Eckhardt, Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 10:24
space isn't there in original code, I tried with this ' ' but it's not working for jq as jq will append it for array string in Items — hoq
– hoq, Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 10:31

choroba · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-22 09:19:06Z

2

--arg doesn't understand bash arrays (some shells don't have any arrays).

You can use --args instead which populates $ARGS.positional with a list of remaining arguments.

domain=("*.abc" "*.xyz" "*.123")
jq '.Items = $ARGS.positional' <<<'{"Items":[]}' --args "${domain[@]}"

Note that I removed the space after domain=. With the space, bash throws a syntax error.

answered Jun 22, 2022 at 9:19

choroba

245k27 gold badges221 silver badges304 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

jpseng Over a year ago

or even shorter: jq -n '.Items = $ARGS.positional' --args "${domain[@]}

pmf · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-22 09:27:48Z

1

You could turn the bash array into a string and separate the items by, say, a newline character, then import the string using --arg, and split it up again into a jq array using /:

jq -n --arg e1 "$(printf '%s\n' "${domain[@]}")" '{Items: ($e1 / "\n")}'

{
  "Items": [
    "*.abc",
    "*.xyz",
    "*.123"
  ]
}

answered Jun 22, 2022 at 9:27

pmf

38.5k3 gold badges31 silver badges41 bronze badges

Comments

dan · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-22 10:19:05Z

0

You can use --args to pass the array to jq as arguments, preserving the list/array structure:

domain=('*.abc' '*.xyz' '*.123')
jq -n --args '.Items = $ARGS.positional' "${domain[@]}"

Gives:

{
  "Items": [
    "*.abc",
    "*.xyz",
    "*.123"
  ]
}

Note that all the quoting is for the shell, not for the JSON. jq adds the quotes in the JSON. Add > myfile to jq to redirect the output to a file.

You can also skip the array and write '*.123' and so on directly, as arguments to jq.

edited Jun 22, 2022 at 10:19

answered Jun 22, 2022 at 10:13

dan

5,4319 silver badges17 bronze badges

2 Comments

hoq Over a year ago

jq: error: syntax error, unexpected QQSTRING_START, expecting $end (Windows cmd shell quoting issues?) at <top-level>, line 1: .Items =$ARGS.positional "${domain[@]}" jq: 1 compile error

dan Over a year ago

The syntax is correct. You have quoting issues. The syntax in your error is different from my example. Make sure to leave spaces and quotes exactly as the example. "${domain[@]}" shouldn't be in the jq command string, it should be after it. The error also says Windows cmd shell? The example is for bash.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to avoid bash/shell skipping quotation in variable value?

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related